Meditation timer apps for the Apple Watch tested but found lacking
UPDATE 24 Nov 2018: This article turned out to be more popular than expected! I decided to update the apps below to their latest versions and give them all another try. Let me know in the comments if there is another watch app that I should check out.
Since I started my practicing Zen Buddhism over a year ago, I have turned my techie side toward the challenges involved with maintaining a daily meditation practice while keeping a heavy international travel schedule for work. When I got my first Apple Watch a few months ago, I assumed there must be some capable apps available for timing meditation sessions, a key function in Zazen and most other meditation practices. Sadly, after testing several of the highest rated apps I still haven’t found anything that meets the very basic need of timing a session using only the watch and providing an audio cue, such as a bell or chime.
Of course, you don’t need a watch to do this task. At home I use my beautiful Pyramid timer, which is the perfect blend of wood and electronics but a bit unwieldy to throw into a carryon suitcase packed with everything needed for a 7-day trip to East Africa (is anyone working on a mini-Pyramid timer?!). I already have to economize in order to fit my Satori crescent cushion, which I can’t live without (and don’t even bother with the inflatable zafus, trust me!). But the watch seems like the perfect solution. It is always right there where I need it and less distracting and obtrusive than a phone app.
What I’m looking for in a meditation timer
Here is what I need the watch timer to do:
- Allow me to pick a total session time and an interval time. I don’t mind if I have to twist the dial each time to change from 10 mins to 35 minutes; just remember my last setting and I’ll be happy.
- Provide a couple of different options for the starting, ending, and interval chimes that sound decent (and play from the watch). Bonus points if they approximate the sounds of the gongs and bells used in a real zendo.
- Work on the watch only, without needing the phone (using an iPhone app to select the different meditation options during initial set up is fine, but I don’t want to be tethered to the phone in order to time a session).
One thing that many developers seem focused on but I absolutely don’t want or need is the ability to integrate with Apple’s healthkit or do in-app tracking of my meditation sessions. I don’t want to review my meditation performance for the week or get reminders that I haven’t reached my target. I have not been on the Zen path very long, but even I know that you don’t build up ‘meditation points’. My noisy mind already provides me with plenty of feedback when I have skipped a day or two of Zazen. Also, these metrics functions seem designed to lock me into a particular app, so that if I spend a week using my Pyramid timer I’ll feel like it didn’t really count since it doesn’t show up on the little bar graph in the app.
The Apps
App store listings never provide enough info about how a watch app actually works, so I decided to invest a few bucks and test out the ones that looked most promising. I like supporting independent app developers anyway, even if I don’t end up using their products. Here are the apps I have tried and my experiences, as they relate to my needs:
Meditation Timer Pro
Meditation Timer Pro ($1.99) is a beautiful and simple iPhone app that has been my go to timer when I’m on the road. You can create an unlimited number of different types of sessions with just the right number of options (see below). These are synced to the watch, but when you start one from the watch it actually uses bluetooth to play the sounds through your phone. I tried turning off bluetooth and wifi on the phone to see what the watch would do on its own, and it seems to start the timer just fine but strangely it doesn’t play any sounds or even vibrate for the chimes. So it seems this is more of a remote control for the iPhone app, which is fine but also a missed opportunity.
Sometimes the communication between the watch and the phone is sketchy, but this seems to have improved in the latest version. In the old version, at least once every 5 or 10 sessions the phone seemed to forget what it was doing and I would have to pick up and unlock the phone, only to find it has returned to the start screen without sounding the ending chime. Worrying about whether this will happen is distracting. I haven’t tested the new version enough to know if this still happens.
Overall, this is a great app. My only advice would be to make a truly stand alone watch version that makes the sounds from the watch.
Still
Still is a free iPhone + Watch app that is like a minimalist version of Meditation Timer Pro, leaving only the important decisions to the user, such as setting the session and interval times. The watch app is truly stand-alone and you only need the phone app if you want to choose from the different chimes available.
Note that if you are like me and keep your watch on silent mode (the little alarm bell icon when you swipe up from the bottom of the watch) the app must default to using only haptic feedback. These quick vibrations are too subtle for me and they are indistinguishable from other watch notifications, so you will be constantly wondering whether your session ended or someone just texted you. It would be nice if Apple would offer something like a meditation mode that an app could activate, which would silence all notifications except for those coming from the meditation app. It would be like turning on Do Not Disturb for some set period of time. Given the mounting evidence about the toxic side effects of constant social media updates, I would expect that a timed Do Not Disturb mode would even find applications beyond meditation apps.
In the first version of this review, I was a bit new to the Apple watch and didn’t realize that silent mode was preventing this app from playing sounds. With this problem resolved, I look forward to testing it further because it really is beautiful in its simplicity and it seems to closely match my ideal of a pyramid timer on my wrist.
Meditate
Meditate ($2.99) is a Watch-only app from a developer that also sells several other health and fitness apps. The timer is simple enough (although it lacks an interval chime option). The ‘+ Add’ button is a little confusing, as you can simply go to the time and use the dial to adjust the time directly.
They clearly put most of their efforts toward the Stats feature, which uses a lotus flower diagram to display your meditation ‘streaks’ — ouch! As mentioned in the intro, all of these tracking features don’t appeal to me. However, I can see how others might find this helpful. If so, you might like the subtle flower interface they use in this app. One final note: the stock images found throughout the Walkthrough of women in bikinis meditating, interspersed with monks, is inappropriate and should be updated.
SILO Zen — Meditation Timer
Silo Zen ($1.99) is another watch-only app but it uses an iPhone app to set up the Practices (which are limited to only 3). The setup interface is a bit tedious as you have to build the session from scratch by inserting different timed blocks. There is no interval option but I assume that you would just insert extra blocks for the intervals. This makes the watch interface very simple, which is nice. However, again you can only have haptic feedback reminders, and with no accompanying iPhone timer there is no option for sound. They treat this like an advantage in the app description, but as mentioned earlier I find it a deal breaker. I like the sound of the gongs and bells and I don’t want to confuse my meditation cues with other watch notifications. I would skip over this app in favor of Still because the interface is much cleaner and requires less effort to set up.
Conclusion
After all this exploration, I’m going back to where I began: Meditation Timer Pro is still the best all around timer app I’ve tried. But when I have a little extra room in my suitcase, you can bet I’ll be throwing in my Pyramid Timer! If anyone knows of an app that meets my three criteria, please let me know and I’ll happily buy it and test it out.
